Ministry of Environment and FAO Sign Agreement on Strengthening the Lumber Industry

Ministry of Environment and FAO Sign Agreement on Strengthening the Lumber Industry
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 12/30/2011

The Dominican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) signed a collaboration agreement to strengthen the Dominican lumber industry.

The agreement was signed by the Minister of Environment, Ernesto Reyna Alcántara, and Mr. Deep Ford, the representative of the FAO in the Dominican Republic.

The agreement was signed by the Minister of Environment, Ernesto Reyna Alcántara, and Mr. Deep Ford, the representative of the FAO in the Dominican Republic.

Under this agreement, the FAO provides $457,000 dollars to the lumber industry to strengthen and develop its capabilities with the goal that it will make a larger contribution to the income and livelihood of the rural inhabitants involved in this line of  work, in a sustainable manner.

The main beneficiaries of the agreement signed between the Ministry of Environment and the FAO will be the 244 owners of the  authorized small to medium-sized sawmills, with a processing capacity of 195,500 feet of wood a day, equivalent to 133,341 m3 annually. In terms of job generation, more than 4,000 people make a living working in this important sector of the lumber economy.

In addition to being part of the gross domestic product of the Dominican economy, the lumber industry generates capital, mainly with the export of furniture. Some Dominican craftsmen also make wooden objects of cultural interest for tourists visiting the country, of which there are almost 4 million a year 

The signed agreement anticipates training in the 200 small-to-medium sized sawmills and plants as well as 20 technicians to increase effectiveness and competitiveness, mainly in the transformation and commercialization of the raw material. The updating of the laws and procedures that are being applied to the lumber industry enables the consolidation of a production line that responds to the demands of the national market in terms of quality and quantity.